Vonage Telephone Service, 25.99 a month instead of $60+, save lots of $$$! Edit: people reporting their experiences

[jamesd1343]

use a setup like the siemens wireless and add handsets

 

[MazdaMP]

another idea would be to get one of those cordless phones that
have X number of handsets and place the handsets in different rooms / floors.
that's how my parents are doing it

let me know if there are any other questions you have, thanks!

 

[MazdaMP]

i emailed them about the 212 area code,
they said they have some available on a "day to day"
basis, so my guess is you might get lucky and get one.

 

[Crapkilla]

So, are there any taxes that get heaped onto the $25.99 plan?
Like now, my line is only around $20, but after all the taxes they heap on, it ends up around $35.

 

[MazdaMP]

Originally posted by: Crapkilla
So, are there any taxes that get heaped onto the $25.99 plan?
Like now, my line is only around $20, but after all the taxes they heap on, it ends up around $35.

no, $25.99 is the charge to your Credit card
unless you make more than 500 long distance minutes (which i never do!)

 

[sat4fun]

I looked very close at this, bet decided to hold off until later. Due to the non support of 911, and the fact that this thing will go down with power outages and ISP outages, this service is being marketed as a second line service. I am interested in this as a replacement to the TelCo, but this is not attractive to me without 911 service. There is talk of support of 911 in early 2003, but who knows when that will happen. Cell phone 911 is not a good replacement since cell 911 does not go to the immediate local authorities.

 

[MazdaMP]

Originally posted by: sat4fun
I looked very close at this, bet decided to hold off until later. Due to the non support of 911, and the fact that this thing will go down with power outages and ISP outages, this service is being marketed as a second line service. I am interested in this as a replacement to the TelCo, but this is not attractive to me without 911 service. There is talk of support of 911 in early 2003, but who knows when that will happen. Cell phone 911 is not a good replacement since cell 911 does not go to the immediate local authorities.

yeah, but for "me" the 911 is not important and my cable has only been down once in the 4 months i
lived at my current place YMMV though

note that you can use 911 with your cell #.

 

[MazdaMP]

i got a PM about the 911 service, i have no idea when or if it will ever be added, sorry

 

[ajaju]

I have had Vonage for 2 days now and I should say its pretty good.

Sound is as good as cellphone quality. ..

No drop in phone calls. So far its worked flawlessly.

Will wait for another 4-5 days and will then get my landline phone disconnected.... net savings of $20 per month !!!

BTW, anybody looking for the $40 referal money, PM me

enjoy!

 

[KarmaWahoo]

Originally posted by: craigg
Android,

Mazda didn't post any links so it's up to the individual if they want to pm him.:frown:

Actually... he did ;-) and that makes it clearly "one's choice" as to how they inquire or proceed

Quoting MazdaMP:
"vonage Digital Voice (http://www.vonage.com)"

 

[slappy76]

add $30 for setup and $10 for shipping..

they also offer a Netgear RP614 for $40 (usually goes for 60-65 street).

Total with the first months service was $107 (includes the router)

Not a bad deal.. I'll get rid of my landline as well once I see it runs okay.. probably get an ATT cellphone (they are the cheapest in NYC but spotty coverage) with no minutes for emergencies ($15 monthly).

PM me too for $40 B)

slappy@NOSPAMyahoo.com

 

[MazdaMP]

i turned around and sold my router for $61 on ebay,
net profit ~$20, it IS a good deal.....

 

[wedi42]

this would be cool if you could get a 800 number included with the deal.
it would be perfect for people with a home office.

 

[MazdaMP]

Originally posted by: johngute
this would be cool if you could get a 800 number included with the deal.
it would be perfect for people with a home office.

you can always choose what are code you want,
for example you have a law office in CT, get a new york number and
people in NY can call you for free.

i am going overseas this christmas,
i'll be taking my cisco with me and i will have a phone
with my 312 area code back in Germany

 

[WindWalker]

You don't have to have a paid land line to get 911 service.
If you have a phone line coming to your abode and you plug a phone in to your home outlet even before local sevice gets connected you can still make a 911 call. Something we all pay for in that 911 surcharge thingy on your bill every month

 

[clarkmo]

I'm a little lost. I pay about $25 for my phone and $50 for my dsl. I don't make a lot of long distance but I have great rates on that. So, where is the big savings? $25 vonage= $25 bellsouth. Does vonage supply the dsl too?

 

[sat4fun]

Originally posted by: WindWalker
You don't have to have a paid land line to get 911 service.
If you have a phone line coming to your abode and you plug a phone in to your home outlet even before local sevice gets connected you can still make a 911 call. Something we all pay for in that 911 surcharge thingy on your bill every month

Where is this happening, because this is not the way that they do things in my area. No phone = No dial tone. No dial tone = No calls in or out, not even 911. What you say is true for cell, but not land.

 

[OfficeGlenn]

Nice of you to copy my thread on FW, pretty much word for word

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=18&threadid=101976

Originally posted by: MazdaMP
vonage Digital Voice (http://www.vonage.com)is basically a telephone line for your broadband connection. They give you a device, the CISCO ATA 186, which you use to connect to your broadband connection, and you plug a regular phone in the ATA 186, and you're pretty much good to go.

You get to choose the area code of your phone line (The highly coveted NY 212 area code is available, as is the Chicago downtown 312 areacode), and all your incoming calls are free.

As for your outgoing calls, they currently offer three rate plans. They offer 2 different plans, one for $39.99 with UNLIMITED long distance and local calls and one for $25.99 with unlimited local calls and 500 Long distance minutes. There are no fixed term contracts, you can quit at anytime. (and I heard from people that they kept the Cisco :-D)

They offer all the standard features you expect from a regular phone line including caller id, call forwarding, call waiting, voice mail, caller id blocking and three way calling.

The current promotion that they are running is that if a current vonage users refers you to sign up for the service, you will get a $40 credit to be applied to subsequent bills, as does the friend who referred you.

So, if you sign-up for the vonage 500 long distance minutes plan, for the first month you are charged $25.99 (monthly fee), $29.99 activation fee and $9.95 shipping. You get the CISCO ATA 186 (worth $160 US) for free. The next two months fee of $25.99 are nearly covered by the $40 referral credit, a pretty good deal..

For me, the call quality has been excellent, better than a cell phone, and pretty close to landline quality.

Feel free to PM or e-mail me at vonage@mazdamp.com if you have any questions about the service or if you want me to refer you (once again, the referral is NOT a requirement to join the service, but you will save $40 with it, i see this like the Amazon Share the love program, saves both parties money...and that one is OK)

 

[sat4fun]

Originally posted by: clarkmo
I'm a little lost. I pay about $25 for my phone and $50 for my dsl. I don't make a lot of long distance but I have great rates on that. So, where is the big savings? $25 vonage= $25 bellsouth. Does vonage supply the dsl too?

If you don't make alot of long distance calls, and you are not interested in the added services that Telco's charge for, but Vonage includes, than Vonage is not for you. In most cases the same service level from a Telco, not even considering long distance, exceeds $40 a month.

 

[isekii]

Would I be able to fax with this line ? ?

also would I be able to change my local area code within the first month ??

also how much does it cost for the callers ?? ? ( people that are calling me ? )

 

[MazdaMP]

Originally posted by: isekii
Would I be able to fax with this line ? ?

also would I be able to change my local area code within the first month ??

yes for the fax, pretty sure yes for the second one (the area code change)

 

[isekii]

Originally posted by: MazdaMP

Originally posted by: isekii
Would I be able to fax with this line ? ?

also would I be able to change my local area code within the first month ??

yes for the fax, pretty sure yes for the second one (the area code change)

would I be charged for changing my area code ??

how much does it cost for the callers to call me ? ?

 

[OfficeGlenn]

Faxing does *NOT* work reliably. Sometimes you can get one page through, but never more than that.

See:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,4218932~root=voip~mode=flat

Originally posted by: MazdaMP

Originally posted by: isekii
Would I be able to fax with this line ? ?

also would I be able to change my local area code within the first month ??

yes for the fax, pretty sure yes for the second one (the area code change)

 

[BSRdr]

I used vonage.com from April 17, 2002 until last week. I live in San Diego and had it plugged into a TimeWarner/RoadRunner cable connection. I had a 718 area code placed on it, since my gf of the time was living in NYC, that way it got rid of my long distance bill and hers at the same time, saving hundreds a month. Quality as of late has been so unreliable, that I ended up cancelling the line. Most likely this isn't an issue with vonage.com themselves but rather my broadband provider, however when I called to cancel from a regular land line I could hear a whistling/echo tone for that conversation at their end, so I guess even they aren't immune from poor quality signal. I'd say go for this only if your broadband connection is reliable and high bandwidth. I noticed decay in voice quality when I was really jamming my bandwidth.

 

[isekii]

damn I was interested in this

but then as soon as I was about to sign up..

they charge initially like 86 bucks..

it seems quite hefty for signing up for a service..